Grow your own Icebergs

When I went outside this morning the frost on my trusty car was so thick that yours truly was unable to scrape it off.

It took several minutes running the engine to heat the inside of the car enough to melt the frost obscuring the windows.

My greenhouse was also covered in a layer of frost indeed it was impossible to see through the glass.

What amazes me is that even in these harsh conditions the young plants inside manage to survive.

At this time of year many plants are naturally dormant and the freezing temperatures are part of the dormancy process. The cold also helps to kill off pests that may be lurking in the greenhouse.

Currently my greenhouse is providing shelter to some young strawberry plants and a hundred or so cuttings taken from the box hedges around my estate.

I have grown both the strawberries and box plants myself so they have cost me nothing however to buy them from a nursery would probably have cost several hundred pounds.

This lunchtime, while on my regular lunchtime walk around Wycombe town centre, I noticed that some of the shops have put out the packets of flower and vegetable seeds.

The end of January is an ideal time to sow some lettuce seeds for an early spring crop. Personally I find that Little Gem and Iceberg are ideal varieties for growing at home.

As the name suggest Iceberg lettuce are ideally suited to colder conditions while Little Gem are a summer variety.

Growing lettuce is so easy.

Put some earth in a seed tray or pot, water it, then sprinkle the seeds lightly on the top. Cover with a thin layer of fine sand and put them in a warm place.

There is no need to water them straight away as the sand will soak up the water from the moist soil.

Keep the container moist (always watering from the bottom) and ensure that you exclude light. In a week or so the young plants will emerge. The tray should then be placed in a light and airy place.

Once large enough they can be transplanted into individual five inch pots and grown on a windowsill until they are ready to eat. A green house heated to forty degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for growing lettuce once they have germinated.

There is nothing like freshly grown lettuce and if you grow it yourself it’s free. What's more there are no air miles for transportation associated with it either.

All too often I see people buying lettuce in the supermarkets and wonder how they can afford it.

If you are on a limited budget then growing your own makes common sense.

What do you think?

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